Data centres and the economy: How digital technologies have helped businesses to adapt

As we move into a new era of economic recovery, it is worth considering the significant impact which data centres and digital technologies have had on businesses over the past couple of years. Online shopping, Covid-safe check-ins, virtual meetings with colleagues and friends – all these activities anchor back to a data centre and the computers and servers within them. It’s hard to imagine what our modern economy would look like if we had not been able to take advantage of this technology.

Data centre dynamics

Data centres are the heart of the digital economy. Although they vary in size, uses, networking, technology, and scalability, they are all part of a unique supply chain which brings goods and services to the world. Whether it be a co-location facility or a cloud-based environment, we use data centres to collect, store, manage and analyse data, as well as for backup, disaster recovery and networking options. Modern set ups allow businesses to expand and contract their data centre capacity as needed, ensuring they operate effectively and efficiently. Not surprisingly, we have seen an exponential increase in data centre traffic over the past few years, reflecting businesses increased reliance on data centres and their essential role in the new economy.

A fast change

A seismic shift in the behaviours of office workers has had a huge impact on the speed at which digital transformations within businesses have taken place. Where once it would have been unimaginable to run entire enterprises split across individual locations as people worked from home, employees have shown that this can be done, and done well. As we now shift more permanently to hybrid office spaces, data centres are making it possible to improve productivity as employees reduce the time they spend commuting and embrace a digital office. Digital transformation of businesses has not only allowed them to continue their core functions during these times of upheaval but has created further opportunities for enterprise efficiencies. These economic improvements are not possible without the utilisation of data centres.

New opportunities

We’ve all seen the differences between businesses which have been able to pivot and embrace the new demands of their customers, and those which have fallen behind as a result of not adapting. Creating opportunities through the digital economy, data centres have been able to keep industries going as workers and business owners pivot to use their internet and IT services in new and exciting ways. Businesses which were previously only brick and mortar locations moved to create online stores and service portals, while restrictions in people movement meant that virtual and augmented reality solutions were brought to the fore for training and educational purposes. Many of these shifts came out of necessity, but as they have proven to be effective and attractive, in many cases the changes are here to stay. 

Across all sectors

Data centres are continuing to support economic growth across all sectors of the economy. As businesses and people increase their data requirements, so to data centre infrastructure will grow to support the economy. Beyond their ongoing traffic capabilities, data centres provide direct economic advantages during the building, management and operational phases of their lifespan as workers are employed directly in these roles and ultimately the broad-based roles that are created in the economy as well.

It is clear that data centres promote many economic advantages. With the continued support of leading data centre products and solutions, Schneider Electric is helping to boost and maintain economies around the world.